Thursday, September 30, 2010

The small village of Rausu on the south eastern side of the Shiretoko Peninsula has a population of just over 6,000 people and is much quieter than Utoro on the opposite side of the peninsula. Rausu's Konbumachi is famous for konbu, a thick kind of seaweed used in Japanese cooking.

There are a few onsen hotels and a number of smaller minshuku (traditional inns) in Rausu, which also has a campsite.

There are whale watching tours in season departing from the town's fishing port and it's possible to hike to Rausu-dake - a challenging climb.

Tour boats leave from Utoro port to sail up and down the Shiretoko Peninsula.

It is 30km to Utoro on the other coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula through the Shiretoko Pass on the Shiretoko Odan Road when it is open for traffic in the summer months. There are buses all year to Kushiro (3 hours, 30 minutes). Rausu is around 70 km northeast from Nakashibetsu Airport, which has flights to Haneda and Chitose.